Animated advertising device



9 I I Oct 927 w. G. GOULD ANIMATED ADVERTISING DEVICE Filed March 28, 1925 Fag .B.

Patented (lot. 41-, i927.

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WILLIAM GORDON GOULD, 0F MONTREAL, QUEBEC, CANADA.

ANIMATED ADVERTISING DEVICE.

Application filed March 28, 1925. serial No. 19,035.

The invention consists essentially of the novel features of construction pointed out in the claim for novelty following a description containing an explanation in detail of an acceptable form of the invention.

The objects of the invention are to attract the attention of the public by means or continuously moving pictures, as it is well known in the field of advertising that to have somepart of the advertisement in motion, whether it is in the operation of lights or some other moving part the public will naturally center their attention on the sign; to adapt to advertising purposes a particular form of moving pictures whereby the subject matter of'the advertising may be prepared by hand and therefore be directed to the special interest of the advertiser; to facilitate the operatlon or" this peculiar form of advertising and furnish a simple and inexpensive mechanism to accomplish the exhibit of the advertising matter; and generally \to provide an eiiicient display that will have the 'efi'ect of arresting the public in the midst of its occupations and diverting its attention to the announcement illustrated on the sign.

Tn the drawings'higure l is a side elevation of the sign, supports therefor projecting and feedingmechanismin section.

Figure 2 is a frontelevation of the advertising sheet showing the form that the advertising takes and projecting it on to the sheet containing advertising matter.

Figure 3 is a rear elevation of the device.

Figure 4 is a detail of an endless silhouette.

Like numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in the various figures. Referring to the drawings, the numeral indicates the sheet on which the projection is made and this sheet is contained or secured to a frame 11, the said sheet being made of heavy canvas, suitably treated to make it translucent for the purposes of the invention, or the sheet may also be made of ground glass or like material of a translucent nature.

The frame 11 is supported in a permanent ublic position by props, struts and braces indicated generally by the numeral 12, and

from this frame a shelf 13 is supported by the posts 14:, at the requisite distance behind the sheet 10 for the operation of the pro jecting machine 15. 1 g

The projecting machine 15 is inclosed in a casing 16 adapted to contain all the accessory mechanism connected with the opera tion of the projector, and in the front an opening 17 is shown for the lens cylinder 18 of the machine. vThis opening 17 being preferably through the recessed wall 19, so

as to afi'ord protection for the projector The casing 16 extends rearwardly behind the projector 15 to afford space for the feed drum 20, the latter having the spiral passages 21 extending from end to end for the endless film 22.

The film extends around the drum 20 many times in the passages 21 so as to provide considerable diversity in the exhibit, and extends from said drum over the rollers 23 and 24, and from the projector and over the rollers 25 and 26 back to the drum.

The drum is mounted on the shaft 27 journalled in the casing 16 and on this shaft a gear wheel 28 is mounted, and this gear wheel coacts with the intermediate gear wheel. 939 which is operated by the ,motor 30 through gear wheel 31 on the motor shaft, and these gear wheelsare so propon, tioned as to insure the proper speed for the operation of the picture.

The film is as explained of endless belt form and is made from drawings by an artist depicting solely and only the many movements of silhouette figures'indicated onthe drawings by the numeral 32. This silhouette may be in black and white or itinay be in colours, but the feature so far as this invention is concerned is the solid colour figures against a white background, that may be seen for a great distance in all their movements, which is particularly eflective in outdoor sign work, and so far as can be ascertained it has not been known to use solid colour'figures in motion for advertising purposes, which is fundamental in this invention. I

- The motor 30 is also shown as contained withinthe casinglfiand is wired up to a battery or to a connection from a central power station as found convenient according to the conditions of use. v

Another feature of the invention is that of a time clock, which in itself is not novel in the break'ng and closing of electric circuits, that is to say, the operation of the switches, but the time clock in this invention indicated by the numeral 33 isalso enclosed in the casing 16 and is wired to the switch 34 in the circuit 35 connecting the motor 30 to'the power, and this time clock by means of conventional mechanism closes this circuit at the time desired, say for example at eight oclock in the evening, and breaks the circuit say at midnight,- giving four hours operation to the sign, or as many hours as may be desired;

This feature of the invention is extremely important for the very good reason that Where there are many hundreds of these signs employed, their operation is automatic throughout, and all they need is just the ordinary attention to see that all the parts are in repair and that the proper silhouettes are installed to conform to the goods or events advertised, and it'may be pointed outin this direction that on the sheet itself theusual plan of announcement in this invention is to have permanent advertising matter printed on the sheet indicated by the numeral 36, most of this being eclipsed on the showing of the pictures,- but in all the designing and planning of thesign, such details will largely concern the sign maker and this invention is more particularly directed to the use of the endless film containing silreaaaeo tion will also include the parts that are accessory to this effect, and while it is acknowledged that moving pictures have been to a very considerable extent used for making announcements as may be seen in any picture house and turtherhave been used in small advertising devices it has not been known to use solid colour figures (listinguishable from a great distance in endless film form and automatically regulated to show at particular determined periods.

lVhat I claim is An animated advertising device comprising a screen casing having a front and rear exposureto the open air and a removable screen therein containing suitable lettering, a frame in scantling form supporting said screen casing at one end and having a shelf at the other end supported on posts and having a casing thereon containing a projecting machine and a helical drum forming the film feed with suitable driving power therewith, said projecting machine adapted to project the films across the open space on to the screen in said screen casing.

Signed at Montreal, Canada, this 23rd day of March 1925.

WILLIAM GORDON GOULD. 

